Acetylene-gas generator.



No. 638,797. Patented Dec. l2, |899. U. CLAIREFUND.

ACETYLENE GAS GENERATOR.

(Application led May 25, 1899.)

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ACETYLENE GAS GENERATOR.

(Application led May 25, 1899.)

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IINTTEE STATES PATENT OEEIcEo URBAIN OLAIREFOND, OFVILLENEUVE-SAINTGEORGES,'FRANCE, ASSIGNOR TO EUGNE BORDIER, OF PARIS,FRANCE.

ACETYLENE-GAS GENERATOR.

SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 638,797, dated December12, 1899.

Application tiled May 25, 1899. Serial No. 718,257. (No model() T0 allwhom it' may concern:

Beit known that l, URBAIN CLAIREFOND, of Villeneuve-SaintGeorges, in theDepartment of Seine-et-Oise, in the French Republic, have invented a newand useful Improvement in an Apparatus for the Preparation of AcetyleneGas, of which the following is a specification.

My apparatus is intended for the preparation of acetylene gas by thefalling of alkaline earthy carbid, preferably carbid of calcium, insmall grains or powder into a body of water, the amount of carbid whichfalls being proportioned to the consumption of gas and taking place asthe gas is consumed.

In the drawings I have shown in Figure 1 aV vertical section ot myapparatus, in Fig. 2 a horizontal section on line to 5c, and in Fig. 3an elevation of the same.

The apparatus is composed, essentially, of a tank A, which I preferablymake of sheet-iron or some equivalent substance and line it with lead orother proper material. A quantity of water is placedin the tank Asufficient to iill about one-halt thereof,and into this water the carbidfalls through a distributing apparatus controlled automatically by a oatplaced in the water, the level of which Vvaries with the pressure of thegas. The carbid of calcium in small fragments, either granulated orpowdered, is contained in a receiver B, which may be made of sheet-ironlined with lead or other suitable material. The carbid of calcium isplaced in the receiver through an opening closed by the stopper b or bya valve.

On the side of the receiver B is a window b', of glass or mica, for thepurpose of observing the amount of carbid contained in the receiver B.The lower end of the receiver has the form of an oblique cone C,terminating in a short nose cut on a bevel and open at its lower end.The carbid falls through this openin g into the lwater-tank A. Theoblique cone O, I construct of brass or other suitable material andincase it in a glass or crystal cylinder G, on which it rests by itsupper edge. This cylinder itself rests on a collar g, of cast-iron orother proper material, on which is placed a rubber washer. The loweropening of the oblique cone is closed by the hinged valve c, of brass orother suitable material,

the axis of which is at c. The valve has an extension c2, with acounterweight so regulated as to press the valve against its seat with astrain slightly greater than the force exerted by the'load of the carbidon the valve. A spring may be substituted for this counterweight. Owingto the Obliquity of the cone, the pressure of the carbid on the valve isvery slight, and Ithe Obliquity is also provided in order that inloading the receiver the material may not fall directly on the valve,and thus the valve is prevented from opening when the grains of carbidfall upon it.

In the interiorpof the tank A is the float D,

- with a metal rod d passing through and fixed to it. The upper end ofthis rod also passes through the. extension c`2 of the valve whichdistributes the carbid and is guided at its lower end by a met-al pieceE, fixed at a proper height on tank A. The rod d of the float has uponit three stops or disks. One disk d is near to and below the extensionc2 of the distributing-valve c, another, cl2, is placed at a similardistance above this same extension c2, and the third disk d3 is placed alittle above the float. Above the disk or stop d8 the fork d4 engagesthe iioat-rod d and is extended by a bent lever, of which one branchpasses outside of the tank A, Fig. 2,' passing through the stufting-boxF. By turning the lever s0 that the fork presses upon the stop d3 floatD is forced below its floating-line in the water and kept in thisposition, and theapparatus is then closed, as will be explainedhereinafter. The outside end of the bent lever is provided with a handlef, which moves in front of a plate fixed to the cover of the tank A andon which are marked the words Open and Olosed, corresponding to the twoextreme.

The apparatus itself is iixed nuts g3 to acollargg, of cast-iron orother material, bolted to top of the tank A. The tank A has a window ct,of glass or mica, by means of which the level of the water and theposition of the float D are visible.

c At the side of the receiverB is an extensionchamberH, of sheet-iron orother suitable ma- Terial, lined with lead or other proper substance andclosed at the top by a jointed cover 72, which is removable, and has abranch outlet h'. This chamber is bolted to the castiron branch I, whichis also bolted to the cover of the tank A. To the bottom of the chainberH is fixed a metallic tube J, which eX- tends into the water in the tankA and the lower end of which has perfor-ations a suitable distance belowthe normal surface of the water. When the pressure of the gas forces thelevel of the water in the tank A below the openingsj, the surplus gasblows olf through the openings into the chamber H and escapes. Thedistance that these h olesj shall be below the normal surface of thewater depends entirely upon the degree of pressure desired. The tank Ais mounted on three legs or in any other suitable way and is terminatedat the bottom by a cone provided with a clean-out 7.; ofsuflicientdiameter to permit the taking out of any sediment which may form in thetank and which maybe placed at a proper height for an ordinary bucket tobe set under it.

The operation of my apparatus is as follows: We will suppose the tank Ato be filled with water to thelevel y y, the lever f being in theposition Closed and the receiver B being full of carbid. The leverfbeing in the position Closed, the iioat D has been thereby forced downinto the water by the pressure of the fork dt on the stop d3 of thefloat-rod d, the Vstop CZ is at a cert-ain distance below the extensionc2 of the valve c, and the stop d2 is pressing down on this extension,thereby holding the valve closed. If the lever is pushed over slightlyto the position Open, the fioat D rises to the surface, the stop d'2rises above the extension c2 of the valve c, and the stop d strikes theunder side of the extension cthereby opening the valve c and allowingthe carbid to fall into the water and to form acetylene gas. By thepressure of this gas the level of the water y y in the tank A is pusheddown tolz ,z and the water is forced up through the openings jjj intothe extension-tank I-I to the level P Q. W'hen the water-level in thetank A is changed by the pressure of the gas from the dotted line Y Y toZ Z, the float D descends with the fall of the water and the stop cl2upon the rod d has a tendency by bearing against the upper side of theextension 'c2 on the valve c to close the valve and put a stop to thedischarge of carbid into the tank A below. As this exten sion c2 isweighted, as shown in Fig. l, the constant tendency of the valve is toclose, and this closing tendency is only 'overcome when the water risesin the tank A, and then the stop d on the rod d strikes against theunder side of the extension and causes the valve c to open. The pressureof the gas in the top of the tank A forces the water in the tank throughthepipe J into the extension-tank H, and the level of the water inthetwo tanks varies in accordance with the pressure of the gas. No morecarbid can fall until the consumption of gas reduces the pressure andallows the water in the tank A to raise the float again and open thevalve c. Thus the automatic feeding of the carbid is established.

It. will be seen from the above explanation lthat the regular pressureof gas for a given amount of water in the tank A depends on the relativeposition of the stop d', cl2, or cl3, which can be set as desired. Asthe rise and fall of the water is more appreciable in the extension-tankH than in the tank A, owing to its smaller diameter, the variations ofwater-level corresponding to variations of gaspressure can be seen by awater-gage on the side of the extension-tank H. The acetylene gas leavesthe apparatus through a pipe L, closed by a valve L2, the pipe L beingattached to the branch I and communicating through the latter with thetank A. The gas after passing through the outlet-pipe L passes downthrough a purifier and drier K, containing suitable ingredients for thepurpose of purifying and drying.

If accidentally too much carbid should drop into the water, theincreased pressure would lower the water-level below .e z andsuflciently to let the gas out through the openings jjj into the tube .Iand the extension-tank H, from which it would escape by the opening 7Land connecting-tube into the open air.

The carbid is placed in the receiver B through the opening which isclosed by the cap b and the water through the cover 71, of theextension-tank H or by a cock which can be placed on the cover of thetank A.

As may be seen from this description, the operation of the apparatus isautomatic, the gas is produced as it is consumed, and the pressureremains always substantially the same. No extra pressure can be formed,and the whole operation is in sight, as the carbid may be seen throughthe sight b', the waterlevel in the tank A and the position of the floatby the sight a, and the movements of the Valve c by means of the glasscylinder g, so that the reason for any failure of operation may be atonce ascertained.

The general shape and size of the various parts and of the apparatusitself may be modied or changed in any way without alfecting theprinciple of my invention.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In an apparatus for producing acetylene gas, the receiver B, placeddirectly over the top of the tank, and the oblique cone C secured tolower end of the receiver and terminating in a short nose on a bevel,the valve c pivoted to the front lower end of the cone,

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and provided with a perforated extension c2, combined With a float,provided with a rod which extends upwardly above the lioat, and throughthe extension on the valve, suitable stops upon the rod for operatingthe valve, an operating -lever extending through the side of the tank,and a stop upon the rod which engages With the lever, substantially asshown.

2. The receiver B, the oblique cone C placed therein, the glass cylinderG surrounding the cone, the collars g, g2, suitable clamping-bolts, andmeans for forming a tight joint between the parts, combined with thechamber H, the cast-iron branch I secured to the top of the tank A, andto the top of Which the chamber H is secured, the tube J extending fromthe chamber down below the top of the Water in the tank A, and whichtube is provided With perforations a suitable distance below the normalsurface of the Water, the escape-pipe 7L extending to the top of thechamber H, and the pipe L provided with the valve L2, combined with thepurifier K, substantially as shown.

8. The tank A, an operating-lever projecting therefrom, and providedwith a cranked inner end, and a oat provided with a rod having suitablestops thereon, combined With a receiver B, the cone C placed thereon,the cylinder G secured to the top of the tank A, and forming a supportfor the receiver, the pivoted valve o, provided with the extension o2,suitable stops upon the oat rod, and which s tops catch above and belowthe eXtension on the valve, substantially as shown and described.

URAIN CLAIREFOND.

Witnesses:

EUGNE BoRDIER, EDWARD P. MACLEAN.

